


You Deserve a Chance

by Civilliany



Series: Second Chances [1]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-14
Updated: 2014-07-14
Packaged: 2018-02-08 19:42:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,426
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1953759
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Civilliany/pseuds/Civilliany
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A conversation between Oliver and Diggle over the decisions he has made regarding Felicity and their relationship, especially now that Ray Palmer is in the picture.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You Deserve a Chance

**Author's Note:**

> This is my take on what may occur in season 3 of Arrow or what I wish would occur. Slow burn pains and slow burn delights and I am expecting a whole lot of it this upcoming season. Hopefully the writers and producers of Arrow deliver when it comes to Oliver and Felicity! 
> 
> As always I hope you enjoy reading it as much fun as I had writing it! :)

* * *

Oliver understood the darkness. The darkness was a shield, a source of comfort, an advantage against an enemy. The darkness provided many a things, as well as taking just as many in return. He understood the cost and damage that the darkness could inflict. But for tonight it didn’t matter what the darkness cost him, tonight he ran towards that darkness hoping it could take the pain that pounded through his heart.

 

Tonight was the annual Queen Consolidated Christmas Ball, the first without a member of the Queen family member at its head. The first without his mother and sister in attendance. Ray Palmer had taken over as CEO and was enjoying the bounty and success that came with saving a multi-billion dollar company from bankruptcy. He had spent the entire night welcoming guests and investors, doing what all good CEOs were expected to do, the entire time with Felicity by his side.

 

His heart constricted every time he had seen her with Ray. The pain becoming near unbearable tonight as the watched the two of them together, every touch, every whispered conversation, every laugh between the two of them felt like a stab to his heart. He knew it was the price he paid for pushing her away and letting her go. He knew his actions had hurt both of them, he just didn’t think that it would hurt so much. He knew it was only inevitable that she would find someone that deserved her. He knew that. He just didn’t think that it would be so soon or so damn perfect.

 

Oliver watched in the darkness and high above, as Ray spun Felicity across the dance floor for the third time tonight. Ray had barely let Felicity out of his line of sight, lavishing her with attention that she so deserved and happily accepted.

 

He wished he could have provided those things to her.

 

“She looks beautiful tonight, doesn’t she,” asked Dig as he stepped onto the balcony that Oliver had secreted away to.

 

“She has always looked just as beautiful to me. She looks happy,” replied Oliver, not even trying to cover the hurt that bloomed upon his face.

 

Felicity and Ray’s laugh filtered their way up into the balcony. A reminder of something he could never provide her. Never have with her. The openness and happiness that came with being with someone who did not have to hide themselves from the world, fearing that the world attack them in return.

 

“You really are an idiot, Oliver,” responded Dig pointedly.

 

“I run around in a green leather suit at night, chasing down criminals, pretending to be a hero. Isn’t that the definition of an idiot?”

 

“No, that’s the definition of a person who lost his mind after spending five years on a deserted island. But you are none of those things, Oliver. You are a hero. You’re a hero who fights for what he believes is just and right. That doesn’t make you an idiot, Oliver. What I was referring to is you pushing away the one good thing in your life Oliver.”

                                                                                                                          

“You know why I had to, Dig! You know why I pushed her away! I’m keeping the promise that we made when I brought her into this. I can’t place a larger target on her back just because I feel like it, Dig,” the rising annoyance and anger clear in Oliver’s voice.

 

“You really think by pushing away the woman you love, the person that makes you better, the person that makes you whole, means protecting her then you are out of your mind, Oliver.”

 

“You said I was nuts anyway,” jabbed Oliver.

 

“This is the only way that I know to protect her, Dig. This is the only way that I can keep her safe. I can’t protect her as the Oliver Queen playboy billionaire and be the Arrow at the same time! I’ve already proven that,” spoke Oliver, his voice faltering ever so slightly remembering the night that they were attacked when he and Felicity were on a date; the night he had nearly lost her.

 

“I can’t lose her, Dig. I won’t! If that means that I have to push her away and watch her in the arms of another then I will gladly accept it. I will take the pain because I know that she is safe. She is safer away from me.”

 

“You truly are a masochist, Oliver. Pushing her away doesn’t make her safer. Pushing her away doesn’t make it better. You love her, Oliver. And I know she loves you.” Diggle’s words momentarily stymieing Oliver’s breathing.

 

“You deserve a chance at happiness, Oliver. You deserve a chance at love,” spoke Dig. The wisdom and weight clear in his words.

 

“Do you remember what I said to you about love? Love isn’t about changing or saving a person. It’s about finding that someone who’s already the right fit, Oliver. You found her. Felicity hasn’t changed you or saved you. She just brought out what was already there, inside of you. She’s standing right in front of you and you are too damn afraid to take a chance on you. It’s not a chance on her because you and I both know that she is the right fit. It’s a chance on you. You’re the one who is afraid of being hurt, Oliver. And before you go on your spiel about losing her and having to protect her from the big bad world let me remind you that I know all too well the dangers that lurk in the shadows. I know the potential that they could have on the people we love and the pain it could cost. For god sakes, Oliver, my brother was assassinated! I have a wife and a newborn at home! I know the risks and the dangers but I couldn’t be happier than I am right now! And you could have that too. You just need to pull your head out of your ass and see what is right in front of you and let your idiotic noble intentions go. They aren’t doing you any good.”

 

“I don’t deserve any of those things, Dig. No matter how much I want to be with her. No matter how much I wish I was the one dancing with her tonight. No matter how much I wish I was the one she was going home with tonight, I’m not. I can’t,” spoke Oliver, his voice breaking.

 

“She deserves all those chances. A chance at happiness, a chance at love, a chance for a family, a chance to live a life without fearing what is around the corner or lurking in the shadows. And I can’t give her any of that, Dig. I would trade anything in the world, everything I have, to have those things with her. I can’t be all things she deserves if I am the Arrow or the Oliver Queen playboy billionaire. This is the life I live and I don’t deserve those things. I don’t deserve her. I cannot not be the Arrow or the Oliver Queen playboy billionaire. I’ve tried and I’ve failed. And I won’t drag her even more into it. I won’t!”

 

“Do you believe that, Oliver? Do you really believe it? Felicity isn’t in love with the Arrow or Oliver Queen playboy billionaire or Ollie. She is in love with you, the real Oliver. The one that was molded by the events that happened those years you were gone from home. She fell in love with that man. She still loves that man. And no matter how hard you try to push those feelings aside. No matter how far you bury them, they won’t disappear. Believe me, I know from experience,” responded Diggle.

 

“Yes.”

 

Diggle responded with a sigh, filled with so much emotion and unspoken words, acknowledging that this particular conversation was over, at least for now.

 

“Goodnight, Oliver. I’m going home,” spoke Dig as he descended the stairs down from the balcony.

 

Oliver continued to bask in the darkness, reveling in the chance to watch her freely from afar. His chances become fewer and fewer the longer she was with Ray. He watched as Ray spun and dipped her, eliciting a giggle from her, before bringing her back into proper position and placing a kiss on her lips. He wished he could trade positions with Ray at that moment. A wish he knew would forever go unanswered.

 

Oliver Queen deserved many things, but she wasn’t one of them, or so he thought.

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always welcomed!


End file.
